Thursday, August 29, 2013

A Successful Swap and A "Simply Charming" Quilt

Way back in April of this year Maureen (Pursuit of Quilts blog) and I decided to do a summer block exchange. We settled on 6" finished churn dash blocks in CW repro fabrics, with 2-3 fabrics per block. Value placement didn't matter as long as there was contrast within the block. We agreed to making two identical sets of 4 blocks each of the three summer months and to keep one set and send the other off to each other. We have been keeping the results under wraps until we had all of the blocks exchanged. You can see Maureen's quilt in the making here. Mine is below. I just made one more block for this setting.

It was such fun to get a new package of blocks each month and to see the variety of fabrics used. We only duplicated fabric once, and that was in the last batch--the upper right and lower left blocks. And, if you can believe it, our blocks are the same size!! This is my first block swap ever, but I understand that doesn't always work out.
DD#1 is trying to adopt and while she was visiting earlier this month she indicated that she would like baby quilts in CW fabrics. The light went on in my head. These were on a design board in my sewing room, so I took her in and asked what she thought. It was not my original plan for these blocks, but I am thrilled to have them end up as a baby quilt.

During the swap some other little goodies from Maureen found their way here with the blocks. There is a sweet little thread catcher (purple!!), that I have placed next to Gidget, and a wonderful hexie pincushion, which is currently doing duty at my cutting station.
Thanks for the delightful swap, Maureen! It has been a pleasure!

I finally have the flimsy ready for the Simply Charming Every Other Month Mini Quilt SAL. (BTW, where did everybody go that was participating in this?) I will post it now, because I won't get it quilted before the link closes. This is also for DD#1. It is part of her birthday request. Her birthday was in March, and she wanted two table toppers, but since one was a Christmas table topper from plaid shirts, I wasn't rushing to finish that one when I knew she wouldn't be using it for some time. I chose to do Coal Miner's Tunnel this time, but to make it a runner I removed one of the braid widths and made it just a tad longer. Hope you like it, Angie! : ) I get to deliver this one in person when we fly to NH for a visit in October!

This little project has been languishing for some time. It was a SAL back in May at quiltsbycheri blog called A Piecework Sampler. The blocks are only 3 1/2". As we neared the last couple of sets of instructions I lost my steam--had too many irons in the fire, like most every other quilter. But, happily, I found enough 3 1/2" orphan blocks to fill in the blanks. Cheri's setting called for bordering each block before adding sashing. The blocks have been laying around my sewing room for months and that bordering thing just wasn't happening. So while cutting sashing for the swap blocks above, I decided to just sash these and be done with it. I will be much more inclined to sew this up now.
I was going to link you back to Cheri's blog so that you could see her original setting, but the pictures from those posts are all missing. : (

If you are only interested in quilty content you can stop reading here. I just wanted to add a word about something that has been in the news a lot lately, that is a subject that affects our family deeply. If you saw this story on CNN's website recently, or this story from the CBS Evening News, or any number of other stories I am finding when I Google the subject, you are getting introduced to what life is like for the individuals with this rare form of epilepsy known as Dravet Syndrome. This is what my youngest grandson has and we are watching the developments on this issue with great hope and interest. Ben is such a precious little guy. Here he is on his first day this year at his preschool for kids with special needs. Gotta love him!!

27 comments:

As always, I love your quilts pictured above! Would love to see your stack of quilts in person! That braided quilt is made in great colors. They compliment each other well! I hope your grandsons can be helped. It's so wonderful whe we can make our kids a little more mainstream. Our youngest had a life threatening milk allergy and she went through desensitization and has a normal life now. It's amazing. I hope for the best for your grandson too!

LOVE what you're doing with our swap blocks! So neat to see the same blocks in two different settings. Thanks for doing the swap with me, Janet. It was so much fun!I'm partial to plaids and love the color combo in this table runner.Maybe we could do little 3" blocks for our next swap! I agree with doing whatever gets the quilt done - especially when it looks great!Interesting story about medical marijuana. Hope it works our for little Ben.

Janet, if anyone could get me to love CW fabrics, it would be you and your lovely quilts!!! I always adore the little quilts you create :*) That churndash quilt really benefited from the swap - it has great color interest. Lucky is the grandchild who gets that for a baby quilt. And I just absolutely LOVE your Simply Charming quilt - who knew plaids and braids could make such a wonderful little quilt??? It makes me want to run to my sewing room and pull out all my recycled shirts and start cutting them up :*)

Ben looks so cute in his school outfit - what a sweet little guy! It would be so wonderful if they could really find a way to cure him or at least make his life more normal. Prayers going up for this sweet little guy!!!

Wow, a fun idea for a swap, I've had a quick peak at Maureen's - the different setings change the look so much. Your Christmas braid is very cool - what a great selection of plaids!! Ben is such a sweetie, hope he's continuing to enjoy preschool.

Lovely post Janet.Ben is such a cutie, how wonderful it would be if only they can find a cure or help to make life better for him.Great quilts, as you know I love all quilts in CW fabrics...they are all winners.Julia ♥

What great swap blocks (and other fun quilty things) - such fun! Doesn't it feel great to get those SAL blocks finished up? They look great! Now I'm off to read your daughter's blog - fingers crossed on help for Ben.

You know something... I never thought I would end up so attracted to plaids in quilting but I have. Love that plaid table runner a LOT! Also love that churn dash quilt as well... not that the other stuff posted isn't cool as well. Just a block I've come to love for some reason...

I've always loved the churn dash block and how you can change the look of it by mixing up the darks & lights - what a fun swap! Your pioneer braid quilt is so fun with all the plaids - it's not an 'in your face' Christmas quilt, but could be used year round. Lucky you to be heading to visit your daughter!

Multiple goodies in this post Janet! So fun to see the exchange blocks on Maureen's post as well, and how they look in her setting! LOVE the Christmas plaid table runner! Wasn't that a fun pattern? It must be a great feeling to finish up those 3.5" blocks from Cheri... I like the sashing around all of them. Prayers of hope for Ben... such a little cutie!

oh, i love them both, mom! they are just perfect. we had our second visit with our social worker yesterday and it went well. it's so exciting to be moving through this process finally! can't wait to snuggle with a baby wrapped in that blanket! :)

Well, I "thought" I wasn't a fan of CW prints, but you may have changed my mind! Love the churn dash quilt - very cute. But the plaid braided quilt is my fave! I have buckets of plaid shirts (blame Bonnie Hunter!). Now that I'm almost retired I'm vowing to dig in and use them up. My boss and my replacement keep hiding the finish line - it's been relocated from July 1 to "sometime in October" but I keep telling them it really is going to happen and I really am going to retire so they better get used to it.

I am the representative payee for my adult brother (age 59) who is on Social Security disability. He lives next door to me in one of my rentals and is mostly independant. He swallowed a penny when he was 2 and it caused brain damage. He'd be one of those sad guys living under a bridge if he didn't have family watching out for him. In curious ways he has enriched my life.

Janet - Your quilts are wonderful as always!! The swap with Maureen is so great!! And to look at how differently you are both setting them is fascinating to me!! And your Ben is such a cutie!! Glad to hear he is enjoying school!! I talked about you in class today!! :-))

I really like the braided table topper. So very rich looking. To hand deliver it will be so great. Sandi is coming in October for three weeks. It is so great to be with our daughters, never enough time. Praying that Ben will have the opportunity to overcome his problems, don't give up faith that something will come his way, he is young. New meds and procedures come out every day. Wishing him the best.

whew - what a fun post full of so much inspiration.I love your swap blocks with Maureen - how fun!! I have done may swaps and I'm always up for one if you do another.Your little braided quilt is very sweet in plaids.The SAL mini sampler is fabulous - I want to make one!! so cute and your colors are wonderful.Sorry to hear about your grandson. I hadn't heard of this yet. There was no photo of him. I hope he had a great first day

I had read about the churn dash exchange on Maureen's blog post. Such a good idea.. I used to trade blocks through Trader's Newsletter. That was before the internet. Then one of the members started a plaid trade. Each year she would select a block pattern and give you a list of people that wanted to participate. We did that maybe three years. If I remember correctly, one of the years was Churn Dash blocks.

Hi Janet, like all three of your projects. What a fun swap with your friend...with wonderful results. I can easily see it in a crib or eventually being dragged around by a little one. Much promise lays ahead for Ben. Give him a hug for me. October is going to be a busy month! Sandi

That precious Ben is such a cutie! I had seen one of those news stories recently too; sending hopeful prayers to you and your family. I love seeing the happy results of your block exchange, well done; and WHAT A PRETTY baby quilt that will be! The runner is lovely too. I hope, if you get the chance, that when in NH you'll have the opportunity to visit Quilted Threads in Henniker; it's a wonderful shop I just adore those teeny-tinies from your SAL.

About Me

My priorities are my faith, family, freedom and fun. I have a wonderful husband, four great grown children and five precious grandchildren. I love to quilt, read, walk, garden, make soap, watch old movies and play Euro-style board games. I am trying to come to terms with gluten-free baking.